Getty Darvin Ham, Los Angeles Lakers
Moving Russell Westbrook into a bench role was certainly not seen as a home-run decision among Los Angeles Lakers fans, as some felt his continued presence within the rotation would serve as an insurmountable distraction.
The fact of the matter is, though, that Westbrook remains on the Lakers’ payroll, and is a former MVP who, if he figures things out, can still be a significant part of the team’s plans throughout the season. Unfortunately, in order to help him reach his former heights, Westbrook accepting a bench role may be essential.
In an October 16 article for ESPN, Dave McMenamin noted how the head coach Darvin Ham intends to continue the experiment of having Westbrook come off the bench throughout the early part of the season, in order to amass a large enough sample size to make a final decision on how he can get the best out of the beleaguered superstar.
REPORT: The Lakers will continue to “explore” bringing Russell Westbrook off the bench during the regular season.
(via @mcten, t.co/zt5fNhLnvD)
“The Lakers’ most optimistic outlook for Westbrook is that Ham will get through to him in a way that Vogel couldn’t, and the nine-time All-Star will have a bounce-back season with some better effort defensively and better discretion offensively. Ham closed out the preseason by bringing Westbrook off the bench, a lineup the Lakers will continue to explore during the regular season, sources told ESPN,” McMenamin reported.
Of course, Westbrook will need to accept his new role in order for this experiment to work, and there’s no guarantee of that happening following a summer of rumors linking him with moves away from the franchise.
Westbrook Suffers Hamstring Injury
On October 14, in what would have been his first full game coming off the Lakers bench against the Sacramento Kings, Westbrook left the court after just 4:53 of playing time. As it turns out, the 33-year-old’s early departure from that game was due to some hamstring soreness in his left leg – an issue that Yahoo Sport’s Chris Haynes has reported will keep Westbrook on the injury report as a day-to-day decision.
After an examination, Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook is dealing with a sore left hamstring with no structural damage and will be listed as day-to-day, league sources tell @YahooSports.
“After an examination, Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook is dealing with a sore left hamstring with no structural damage and will be listed as day-to-day, league sources tell @YahooSports,” Haynes Tweeted on October 16.
Hopefully, Westbrook can make a quick recovery and get back on the court for the Lakers, because the only way he’s going to prove he’s still capable of helping a team win a championship is by producing on the hardwood.
Shannon Sharpe Believes Westbrook’s Time in LA is Over
Ever since Westbrook rolled into Los Angeles last summer, everything that was supposed to go right has gone wrong – and regardless of whether it’s been deserved, the superstar guard has shouldered a significant portion of the blame.
Yet, after failing to show any improvements to his game throughout the pre-season, it would appear that some NBA analysts have given up trying to figure out how Westbrook can turn his Lakers tenure around – and that includes Fox Sports Shannon Sharpe.
.@ShannonSharpe on Russell Westbrook avoiding Lakers team huddle:
“The Lakers are done with Russ and Russ is done with the Lakers. I’ve never seen a dude blow off the huddle. As long as Westbrook is on this team, the Lakers will not compete for an NBA championship.”
“I think I speak for a lot of Laker fans. They’re about ready to be done with Russ, he doesn’t wanna be a Laker and the Lakers don’t want him. They don’t want him…I’ve never seen somebody wave off a huddle. I just know that when he gets the ball, I get anxious, I wanna turn the TV off cos I know something good is not about to happen. It’s frustrating.
They made a mistake. The Lakers made a mistake, Russ made a mistake in wanting to come to the Lakers. This is not gonna work. As long as he’s on the team, the Lakers are not going to win a championship or really compete for a championship. I’m over this situation. Hopefully, they can get some value out of him running the second unit. I hope that’s the case. But it would be so much better if they were just able to part ways,” Sharpe said on an October 14 episode of Undisputed.
There is still a chance Westbrook will be traded this season, as the trade deadline isn’t until February, and with so many teams looking to enter the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, there could be a plethora of teams lining up to take Westbrook for the remainder of his contract.